German private detective is suspected of contacts with the perpetrators of MH17 downing
A German private detective was subject to search and seizure as part of the investigation into the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 that happened two years ago in the Donbas. Deutsche Welle reported on Wednesday that the detective allegedly contacted the perpetrators of the crash.
According to the representative of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Netherlands, Wim de Bruin, investigators searched the detective's apartment in the German town of Bad Schwartau and a safe-deposit box in Zurich, after which its contents were seized. A Swiss court is now deciding on the transfer of findings to the Netherlands.
According to de Bruin, Dutch authorities are hoping to get additional information about the disaster. Reports by Dutch media allege that the perpetrators of the attack on the Malaysian aircraft came into contact with the detective. Presumably, soon after the accident investigators received money from an anonymous sourcer to investigate the causes of the crash.
The Prosecutor's Office of the Netherlands is coordinating with an international group of specialists who lead the criminal investigation into the crash.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. All 298 people on board were killed. 192 passengers were subjects of the Netherlands; one also had United States citizenship. 44 other passengers were citizens of Malaysia, including 15 crew members. There were also 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 10 British, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, one Canadian citizen and one from New Zealand.
The Dutch Safety Board, which was investigating the causes of the crash, issued a report on October 13, 2015 that stated that the plane was shot down by a ground-to-air rocket, fired from a Russian-made Buk missile system.